For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Marshals Service is warning the public today of a telephone scam involving callers falsely identifying themselves as U.S. Marshals employees.

Typically, the fraudulent caller will identify the recipient of the call as the winner of a large amount of cash and will state that a processing fee must be paid before a Deputy U.S. Marshal will deliver the money. The Marshals Service became aware of the scam after receiving several calls from alert citizens, some of whom were trying to verify the false names given by the callers as U.S. Marshals employees.

The U.S. Marshals Service is a federal law enforcement agency; it does not deliver monies on behalf of any entity unless it is part of a court order and it does not require the recipient of any proceeds to pay a delivery fee over the telephone.

The U.S. Marshals Service urges individuals not to divulge personal or financial information to unknown callers and highly recommends they report the fraud to the FBI or call their local police or sheriff’s department to file a report if they are the victim of a scam.

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America’s Oldest Federal Law Enforcement Agency